
I’ve been pressing flowers ever since I was a little girl, and thank heaven I have gotten a bit better at it over the years. There is something so timeless about finding a perfect bloom, and preserving it flat, so it can be used to conjure memories of the past (like my Junior Prom corsage), adorn a card to your best friends or frame for the wall.
You can make pressing flowers as easy or complex as you like. I’ve pressed many flowers and buds between the pages of large books, and I also have a few flower presses that I use.

For our second Christmas together, The Man built me my own flower press based on what I told him my ideal press would be. It is still one of my favorite gifts after almost 15 years together!

So I’ll pick plants in the late morning, After they’ve had time to evaporate off any moisture or mildew, and before the heat of the day when things begin to wilt.
If a plant has a thick, woody stem I will remove it, otherwise I will flatten the flower, sometimes even using a razor knife to slice the bud in half so the flower will press nicely.

Then I place the flowers between coffee filters.
I’ve found coffee filters are great because they wick any moisture away, without damaging the plant or taking any color away.
(You can still use the coffee filters between the pages of an old book because they will protect the pages as well as the flowers.)
Now I just have to hope that the entire world moves to those Keurig coffee machines, otherwise there will be no place to buy them any more!

Once the flower is laid out between the coffee filters, I use multiple layers of corrugated cardboard between pressings. And place them between two thick pieces of wood, which over the following weeks I will add more and more pressure.
And a good thing to keep in mind is as you press flowers their colors will change.
· White flowers fade to yellow or caramel brown.
· Pink flowers turn brown.
· Red and Orange blooms become maroon.
· Purple becomes a lovely navy, and periwinkle turns blue.
I think I enjoy pressing flowers so much, because it is like freezing a moment in time.
Warmly,
Kelly